Product Description

Now in paperback after six hardback printings, the "damn funny...wild collection of bracingly intelligent essays about topics that aren't quite as intelligent as Chuck Klosterman" (Esquire). Following the success of Fargo Rock City, Klosterman, a senior writer at Spin magazine, is back with a hilarious and savvy manifesto for a youth gone wild on pop culture and media, taking on everything from Guns n' Roses tribute bands to Christian fundamentalism to internet porn. "Maddeningly smart and funny" - Washington Post

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18473 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-31
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Synopsis
Now in paperback after six hardback printings, the "damn funny...wild collection of bracingly intelligent essays about topics that aren't quite as intelligent as Chuck Klosterman" (Esquire). Following the success of Fargo Rock City, Klosterman, a senior writer at Spin magazine, is back with a hilarious and savvy manifesto for a youth gone wild on pop culture and media, taking on everything from Guns'n'Roses tribute bands to Christian fundamentalism to internet porn. "Maddeningly smart and funny" - Washington Post

Customer Reviews

Klosterman V: Satisfaction at last?
Mr. Klosterman opens by stating that no woman will ever satisfy him. By the end, he's put down half of America, wants to punch Magic Johnson, slams cover bands plus Kid Rock, and even takes a jab at Jenny McCarthy (but who can blame him on this last point!). Mr. Klosterman is a very angry man; he would say he's honest, I would say he's angry. In his defense, he's a very good writer, who's analytical, has an interesting take on things, and has a creative way of expressing himself. Overall, this is actually a pretty entertaining read that I also found a bit unpleasant due to his vitriol. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.

I like Chuck Klosterman
Perhaps because rock music has become less interesting, or more likely because music magazines have become more corporate, hardly anyone anymore writes anything insightful about pop culture: Simon Reynolds and Chuck here are exceptions. Despite a low strike rate here - the stuff about 'The Real World' is fairly obvious, for instance - Klosterman's obvious love and understanding of pop detritus is constantly engaging. The Billy Joel essay brings insights into vast areas of the pop experience that I'd never even thought about before. Recommended.

Insightful!
Although he covers wildly varied topics, Chuck Klosterman's lively, stylish collection of essays speaks for and largely to one generation: Gen X. The author focuses not just on pop culture, but instead on pop culture's detritus. He doesn't discuss the best pop culture products. Rather, he covers the random bits and pieces that interest him. Some of these subjects merit his attention, such as popular television shows like The Real World, which have shaped later genres. Some of the other topics to which Klosterman turns his intelligence, ready wit (and occasionally profane tongue) are less obviously relevant - such as the meaning of breakfast cereal ads. He would argue that it doesn't matter, that everything in a society is connected and every part of popular culture tells us something about the way of life that produced it. Even so, you could still debate just what these specific items communicate - and while Klosterman's conclusions are always entertaining, many of them are highly debatable. In the areas such as music and celebrity journalism, where he is deeply experienced, his conclusions are more convincing and his ideas are most interesting. In other areas where he seems to spin positions from a more limited perspective, he is intriguing, but much less convincing. Despite this mixed menu and mixed perspective, we recommend this clever manuscript to pleasure readers who want a fun ride through pop land and to serious readers who are trying to understand the Gen X mindset.